Sleeping Beauty: A Hogwarts Play
by WizMonCruWil
Summary: Harry and his friends are cast in the Hogwarts spring musical. Hilarity and romance ensues, from first casting to performances!
1. Chapter 1: The Cast List

**Chapter 1: The Cast List**

"It's posted! It's posted!" Hermione Granger squealed as she raced up to her two best friends at the Great Hall table. Ron Weasley and Harry Potter both looked up and sighed.

"Ready to see how bad we did in auditions?" Ron asked.

"If you are mate," Harry Potter replied.

Not long after Hogwarts had announced _Sleeping Beauty_ as their choice for the annual spring play, Fred and George had bet the best mates 5 Galleons each that they wouldn't audition. That was the only reason Harry and Ron were bothering to check the cast list at all. They had tried out to one-up Fred and George (and also to support Hermione, who had wanted to try out from the beginning).

By the time the Golden Trio reached Professor Flitwick's door, many other fellow fifth year students had already crowded around. The friends pushed through to read the list. It took reading only two lines of type for their jaws to drop.

"Ron! You're Prince Phillip! And Hermione's Sleeping Beauty!" Hermione squealed at having gotten the female lead, then remembered what part Ron had won, and blushed furiously. He wouldn't have to kiss her awake…would he? Secretly, all of her fantasies had seemingly come true at once. Ron had reached the same line of thought, but was trying to brush it off by acting all nonchalant. "Alright, mate, what did you get?"

Harry read further down before spluttering, "I'm Prince Philip's horse?! With Fred and George?!"

Ron burst out laughing at the thought of his best mate and idiot twin brothers crammed into a horse costume with him sitting on it. The friends only laughed harder when they saw that Lavender Brown was Maleficent, Slytherins Pansy Parkinson, Eloise Midgen and Millicent Bulstrode were the 3 Fairies ("the ugliest Fairies ever, they'll be!" Harry chortled), and Malfoy was the dragon ("Finally, I get to run that slimy git through and not get detention!" Ron crowed). They did not stop smiling the rest of the day.


	2. Chapter 2: Rehearsals

**Chapter 2: Rehearsals**

The practices were not always as fun. As in any theatrical process, problems ensued.

"Now, Father, you're living in the past. this is the…the…" Ron fumbled, trying to remember the rest of his line in a scene with Neville, who was playing King Hubert.

"The 14th century!" Flitwick prompted from the seats.

"The 14th century," Ron echoed, back on track. "I plan on marrying the girl I love." He mounted the horse costume/apparatus that housed the twins and Harry, ignoring the "Ow!" he heard after accidentally giving somebody a well-placed kick with his foot. "Ride, Diablo!" The horse didn't move. Ron repeated the command, and only then did the 'horse' trot across the stage towards the wings, albeit very slowly…and loudly.

"Fred! Get your hand out of my eye!"

"I can't until Harry moves his foot!"

"George is sitting on my foot!"

The horse costume fell apart, revealing the three struggling boys and bucking Ron to the floor, only feet from the exit. Flitwick sighed.

"We'll work on that, boys, but you can only get it up to speed if you all move in sync!"

"NSYNC?" Harry asked. "Like the Muggle boy band?"

"No, in synchronization! Foot, foot, hand, hand, foot, foot, hand, hand." Flitwick demonstrated. "And what's a boy band?"

"Never mind," Harry mumbled.

The problems didn't end there. Malfoy simply refused to die whenever Ron threw his sword through his heart during their climatic battle. He took great pains to try and explain why he thought the dragon should live and win.

"What good is a dragon if he can't take over the kingdom?" the Slytherin boy drawled. "I think the ending should be re-written." Ron responded by throwing his sword at him and hitting his mark for the fifteenth time. It was actually the one part of his role that seemed to give him no trouble.

"Just shut up and die, you git, so I can rescue my princess!" he snarled.

But none of these issues compared with the kiss scene between Philip and Aurora. Ron had avoided kissing Hermione awake for real all this time, and it was now dragging on into technical and dress rehearsals. He had come up with the temporary solution of kissing the end of a ruler, with the other end resting on Hermione's mouth. Some of the Slytherins in the ensemble were mocking Ron and claiming he had cooties - a claim that even Hermione was wondering about. _Is he going to keep this up in the performances?_ Then: _Does he really not want to kiss me?_ she thought sadly.

On the whole, everyone hoped that the performances would go off without a hitch…


	3. Chapter 3: It's Showtime!

**Chapter 3: It's Showtime!**

Opening Night finally rolled around. The Great Hall tables had been pushed back to accommodate extra seating, which was gravely needed: the place was packed. The Weasleys occupied the entire front row. The Dursleys had no desire to come, and Hermione's parents couldn't. For the latter, Harry had rigged a camcorder in the back with magic to film the show, and then he and Hermione would send the DVD to her parents via owl.

The performance began and progressed smoothly with no glitches. Ron did not forget any of his lines, and Diablo the horse (Harry, Fred and George) galloped on and off stage with Ron still on its back in perfect synchronization. Malfoy "died" on cue when Ron threw his sword. But then, came the kissing awake scene.

Ron approached the slab of blocks where Hermione pretended to lie asleep. He knelt beside her and looked at her. He remembered how she had looked when she was Petrified in their second year, and had to fight to not cry and remind himself he was onstage.

"Sweet princess, awaken! I love you." Ron recited, and wondered why the last three words sounded so right when directed to Hermione. Hermione, meanwhile, waited for the ruler to be positioned against her mouth, but it did not come. She opened one eye the tiniest fraction, to see that Ron was not holding it. Her heart began to race. Did that mean - ?

She felt the air move as Ron bent over her. Then - she experienced the sweetest sensation ever as Ron's lips pressed against hers. At his touch, she let out a tiny squeak of surprise, followed by the happiest and softest sigh possible, into his mouth. Now began the process of "awakening." In rehearsals, she had just popped her eyes open. But, this time, she raised a hand to brush her fingers along Ron's jawline. She lifted herself ever so slightly from the bed, propping herself up on one elbow. She quickly pried Ron's mouth open with her tongue and thrust it inside. Ron gently reciprocated involuntarily.

For his part, Ron was lost in the moment. So lost, that he forgot he was onstage. Kissing Hermione felt so…normal. And fantastic. He was so caught up in the experience, that he only became aware that she was kissing him back when the kiss was nearing its conclusion, just before they broke apart. Ron drew away and opened his eyes to see Hermione staring at him with the most radiant smile on her face. The fact that they were onstage came rushing back when they heard wolf-whistles from the audience. But neither cared.

Ron gathered Hermione in his arms, as had been practiced and carried her offstage. A quick costume change was made before they came back out again to dance together in the finale. Hermione's dress was now pink inside of blue, and it reminded Ron of the Yule Ball from the year before. The Ball where he had been such a prat to her, and had not even danced with her. Now, in a way, he was getting to make it up to her. He did not realize that Hermione was thinking along similar lines, and forgiving him for his insensitivity then. He had made up for every argument they had ever had with that one glorious, _magical_ kiss. The couple danced to "Once Upon a Dream" as the audience started applauding. The clapping lasted well after the curtain call. So did the feeling of Ron and Hermione's lips pressed against each other's - that would last for years afterward, through five more sold-out shows, a wizarding war, marriage and two children.


End file.
